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Prayers

Orthodox prayers for the eyes

A blind man begged Jesus, “Lord, let me see again,” and he received his sight (Luke 18:41-42). You can pray his words for your own eyes or someone else’s.

Picture: Nicolas Poussin, Christ Healing the Blind Men of Jericho, 1650

3 prayers and 1 to the saints

For your eyes

Lord, let me see

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!Son of David, have mercy on me!

Lord, let me see again.

Traditional wording, 1611

Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

Lord, that I may receive my sight.

When the crowd told the blind man to be quiet, he cried out all the louder. His few words are easy to say in a waiting room or before an operation.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Luke 18:38, 39 and 41, with the King James wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Praise to the God Who gives sight

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind

Hallelujah!Praise the Lord, O my soul.I will praise the Lord all my life;I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,whose hope is in the Lord his God,the Maker of heaven and earth,the sea, and everything in them,Who keeps faith for ever.

He brings justice to the oppressedand gives bread to the hungry.The Lord sets the prisoners free;the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the stranger;He upholds the orphan and the widow,but He turns the way of the wicked upside down.

The Lord will reign for ever,your God, O Zion, for all generations.Hallelujah!

Traditional wording, 1611

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

The LORD preserveth the strangers; He relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked He turneth upside down.

The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

In its list of what God does for people in need, this psalm says, “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind” (Psalm 146:8). It also says He lifts up those who are bowed down.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

When sight comes back

Tobit’s thanks for his sight

Blessed are You, O God,and blessed is Your name for ever,and blessed are all Your holy angels.

For You disciplined me,and You have had mercy on me.Look, I can see my son Tobias!

Traditional wording, 1611

Blessed art Thou, O God, and blessed is Thy name for ever;and blessed are all Thine holy angels:

For Thou hast scourged, and hast taken pity on me:for, behold, I see my son Tobias.

When the white films over Tobit’s eyes peeled away and he could see his son again, he blessed God for His mercy.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Tobit 11:14-15, with the King James wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, Apocrypha, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

To a saint · To St Paraskevi

Troparion of St Paraskevi

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

Paraskevi, victorious martyr,your eagerness matched your calling,and you were true to your name.You received as your homea faith worthy of that name.So you pour out healingsand pray for our souls.

The kontakionAll-honoured one, we have found your churchto be a hospital for the soul,and in it all of us who believehonour you with loud voices,Paraskevi, nun and martyr, praised in song.

The faithful pray to St Paraskevi for the healing of eye ailments. Her Life tells of the blind receiving their sight at her tomb.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of the Menaion for 26 July; no traditional English was found. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Scripture for this

1Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, 2and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.”

John 9:1-3 Jesus’ disciples asked whose sin had made a man blind. Jesus answered that it was neither his sin nor his parents’.

23So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked. 24The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.” 25Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly.

Mark 8:23-25 Jesus laid His hands on a blind man twice. At first the man saw people like trees walking, and then he saw everything clearly.

17So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized,

Acts 9:17-18 When Ananias laid his hands on Saul, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and his sight was restored.

I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16 God says He will lead the blind by ways they do not know, and turn the darkness before them into light.

4Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.” 5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Isaiah 35:4-5 Isaiah foresees the day God comes to save His people, when the eyes of the blind will be opened.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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